LOWELL -- Ken Lavallee's law-enforcement career spans more than three decades in three jurisdictions: Carlisle, Manchester, N.H, and, of course, the Mill City.

One can only imagine the multitude of memories, good and bad, rushing through Lavallee's mind as he works through today, his last day on the job.

There's one in particular, however, that has filled Lavallee with joy -- and sadness.

He calls it one of the most fulfilling, if not the most fulfilling, event of his law-enforcement career: In early spring 2011, he was among several law-enforcement officers who told the family of John McCabe, killed when he was just 15 years old in 1969, that three men had been arrested and charged in connection with the young teen's murder.

Then Vice Squad detective Kenneth Lavallee makes prostitution-related arrests on Appleton Street in Lowell in the early 1980s.

"I'll never forget the look on their faces," Lavallee recalled in an interview earlier this week. "You could sense an overwhelming feeling of relief, of thanks.

"Of course, we didn't get the result we wanted," Lavallee softly added, referring to the February acquittal of Michael Ferreira, the first to stand trial. "But that doesn't take away from what we did for that family that day."

Then there are events Lavallee would prefer to forget, but can't, as they're eternally seared in his memory. Ironically, all three involved off-duty officers:

* The Oct. 20, 1996, plane crash in Eel River, New Brunswick, that took the lives of eight men while returning from a hunting trip.

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Among the fatalities were four of his brother officers: Donald Brill, David Seamans, Steven Smith and Sgt. John Sullivan.

* The September 2010 death of Officer Patrick Johnson while riding a motorcycle in the Highlands.

* The July 2011 death of Officer Charles Panek, who drowned after he fell from a boat on the Merrimack River in Tyngsboro.

Kenneth Lavallee in his patrol cruiser, Car 2, circa 1984, in which he patrolled the Centralville neighborhood.
(COURTESY PHOTO )

Not easy stuff to endure, but for someone like Lavallee -- who joined the Lowell Police Department in 1984 and steadily climbed the ranks -- there's also the safety and well-being of more than 100,000 people he's sworn to protect, and that's precisely what he's done, and by all accounts, done remarkably well.

Recently released figures show that, generally, across the city, the number of serious crimes is declining.

The city went nearly two years without a murder, a statistic the Police Department takes great pride in, until the early March murder of 60-year-old Angela Aponte.

He also spoke out, repeatedly, on the city License Commission, which he criticized as too lenient with bars that didn't follow the rules; the availability of handguns; and the opiate epidemic, which he said is one of the city's greatest threats.

He's made fighting domestic violence a benchmark of his administration, along with traffic enforcement. The latter might not seem glamorous, but he said more orderly roads improve the city's overall quality-of-life.

Lavallee, who at 57 has been the city's top cop since December 2006 when he was named interim superintendent, attributes the "organization's success," not "his," to its community-policing mindset, a way of conducting police business initially instituted by his predecessor, Edward F. Davis, now Boston's police commissioner.

"The way the department restructured and changed philosophy when Ed took over was when we turned the corner," said Lavallee. "That led to an immediate decrease in crime across the board." The idea was to get the city's proud neighborhoods, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders to buy into the idea that they could have a role in public safety and thus care about it. The Police Department did that, initially, by opening neighborhood precincts.

Today, there's the Citizens Police Academy and Lavallee's initiative to hold command staff meetings at businesses, with neighborhood groups and other entities. One meeting was even held in The Sun's offices on Dutton Street.

After working brief stints in the Carlisle and Manchester, N.H., Police Departments, Lavallee's first assignment in Lowell was Car 2, Centralville. His early mentors were guys like John Guilfoyle and Frank Harvey.

Speaking specifically about Guilfoyle, Lavallee said the detective instilled in him a sense of integrity and credibility. "He never got angry, never raised his voice, but was one of the most highly regarded police officers ever in the history of the organization. I've tried to conduct myself in the same manner."

Lavallee always planned to move from the patrol force to an officer's post, but it wasn't until Davis became permanent superintendent in 1995 that Lavallee thought about himself one day being superintendent.

"I was in his inner circle, along with guys like Bob DeMoura and Bill Taylor," said Lavallee, referring to the present chief in Fitchburg and LPD captain, respectively. "It was in 2006, when Ed left, that he told me I could be superintendent."

Not surprisingly, Lavallee's emphasis on "community" also impacted a Lowell native who is now a police officer in Concord, N.H., and for whom Lavallee is a mentor. Ryan Howe, a 14-year-veteran, is a community resources officer in the Granite State's capital city, trying to instill the same sense of trust between the CPD and the community that Lavallee has cultivated in Lowell.

"When I think of Ken Lavallee, I think of an outstanding individual, someone who is very ethical and knowledgeable, a real solid guy overall," said Howe. "Law enforcement is losing one of its best officers. But he's worked real hard to get where he is, and he deserves his retirement."

Close friend John Chemaly echoed a similar sentiment. A Chelmsford resident like Lavallee, Chemaly worked with Lavallee at the former St. John's Hospital, when Lavallee was head of security and Chemaly was a material management specialist.

"I'm not surprised he ended up the chief," said Chemaly, co-owner and president of Trinity EMS. "He was one of the hardest workers I ever worked with, always doing double shifts, and he was by the book. I mean by the book."

It's been said, in a complimentary way, by many who know Lavallee that he is the most anally retentive person to ever lead the Lowell Police Department. When speculation about his retirement started about a year ago, Lavallee tried to redirect. But those who knew him didn't buy it, believing all along that Lavallee knew precisely when he'd leave, down to the second. Lavallee initially planned to resign at the end of June. Several days later, he changed that to March 29. Last week, City Manager Bernie Lynch appointed Deputy Superintendent Deborah Friedl as interim superintendent.

But most often, the quality mentioned most frequently in the same sentence with Lavallee's name is integrity.

"He just always wanted to do the right thing," said his wife of nearly 23 years, Susan.

As an example, she cited the License Commission issue. Lavallee knew it would anger the commission and some politically connected bar owners, but he pressed forward, knowing that unless the issue was addressed, someone could get hurt or killed. Subsequently, the bars are behaving better, the commission has two new members but proposed tougher new rules and regulations are still be debated.

Susan Lavallee met her future husband when she was an emergency-room nurse at the former St. Joseph's Hospital. Early in the 1980s, when prostitution was rampant in the Appleton and Middlesex Street enclaves off the downtown, Lavallee was part of Vice Squad raids. Sometimes, the suspects would be in need of some medical attention and they'd end up at St. Joe's.

"I always noticed how compassionate and respectful Ken was with the prostitutes he arrested," she recalled. "That's just a memory that has always stayed with me, and it says a lot about Ken's moral character."

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